Fox News Sunday host and legal analyst Shannon Bream has written another Bible-based bestseller with The Love Stories of the Bible: Biblical Lessons on Romance, Friendship, and Faith (Fox News Books via Broadside). Released March 28, it led the religion nonfiction bestseller list for the month ended April 1. Bream writes from her Evangelical perspective about love with families, friends, and with God. In 2021, her title, Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today locked in the top spot for months. Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak was a top seller in 2022 as well.
In the month before Easter, readers turned to beloved titles and favored authors. Sarah Young's Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence (Thomas Nelson) stood at #2 followed by Beth Moore's memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life (Tyndale), Lysa Terkeurst's Good Boundaries and Good Byes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are (Thomas Nelson), and Kate Bowler's The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days (Convergent). Kimberly D. Moore's 2020 title, The Bible in 52 Weeks: A Yearlong Bible Study for Women (Rockridge) returned to the top list at #9.
Other new-in-March titles in the top 10 include Why I Do What I Don't Want to Do? Replace Deadly Vices with Life-Giving Virtues (Baker Books) by Jonathan Pokluda, a Texas megachurch pastor and Becoming Something podcast host, at #6; The Awe of God: The Astounding Way a Healthy Fear of God Transforms Your Life (Thomas Nelson) by prolific author and minister John Bevere, at #8 and at #10 is Anything Is Possible: How Nine Miracles of Jesus Reveal God's Love for You (FaithWords) by pastor Joby Martin.
Easter isn't the only holiday prompting sales. At #7 was a Passover classic from 2007— 30 Minute Seder: The Haggadah That Blends Brevity with Tradition. Published by author Robert Kopman, it's a guide to the prayers, stories, and symbolism in the ritual meal.
The fiction bestseller list leads with the latest title, Letters of Trust: Friendship Letters—Book 1 (Barbour), by Amish romance writer Wanda E. Brunstetter, whose nearly two dozen series collections have sold more than 10 million copies. Book 2, Letters of Comfort, is planned for August.
Four new-in-March releases on the list are from Harlequin imprints. Two are from the Inspirational Mountain Rescue Collection. P.A. DePaul, author of the #2 title, Surviving Alaska, promises in her books that "characters fall in love while overcoming thrilling obstacles without sexual intimacy." And at #4 is Rebecca Hopewell's adventurous romance High Stakes Blizzard. Under the Love Inspired imprint are Jessica Keller's title, Easter on the Ranch, at #7 and Heidi McCahan's His Easter Baby at #9.
Also pegged to the Easter season are The Greatest Salesman in the World (Bantam), by Og Mandino, at #4 and The Stanger in the Lifeboat (Harper) by Mitch Albom at #6. Both feature characters who may have encountered Jesus.
Three other books have long resided in the fiction top 10 lineup. Francine Rivers' 2005 novel-turned-movie, Redeeming Love (Multnomah) stands at #3. The C.S. Lewis classic The Great Divorce (HarperOne) is at #9. William Young's The Shack (Windblown Media) at #10 inhabits the list like The Eagles' Hotel California—It seemingly can never leave.